The Simple Life
Trip Start
Nov 02, 2006
1
17
44
Trip End
Dec 19, 2007
Nizwa,
Oman
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Back in Stockholm now & put up some more pics.
Oman was great, but I think an even better way to see the country would be to rent a car for 2-3 weeks and driver yourself around. The roads are good, though you need 4WD for some things. People are friendly & helpful & I found the country very safe. I think there is probably a slightly untapped (though not for long) market for more adventurous & outdoorsy tourism - splunking, hiking, rock climbing, water sports (someone told me there is good surfing/wind surfing, but not on the beach I was on - the waves were maybe enough for body surfing), etc. Seemed like even the small towns had at least 1 motel, but it is also an easy place to camp. I guess since the Sultan loves camping, he's made it easy for campers. Supposedly you can camp on the beach, in the mountains, in the desert...Since I only took day trips, I only saw Muscat & all the towns within about 4 hour's drive (mostly inland). I didn't see any of the south, which is supposedly much cooler & even has waterfalls, or the very north (you have to drive through the UAE to get to the northern most towns). And there is supposedly good diving near the islands south of Muscat.
Also, I met some people who flew via Dubai or Abu Dhabi and were able to stay a few days there too. But they all liked Oman more - more interesting & more to do.
